A young woman has quit her job to help a "lost generation" of young people in Harrow.

A young woman has quit her job to help a "lost generation" of young people in Harrow.

But Jemma O'Neill, of High Road, Harrow Weald, said she has had only a lukewarm response from the local authorities, even though staff accepted her ideas were strong.

The 20-year-old left her office job at a recycling company in May to try and change the way the authorities work with disaffected youths.

Jemma said: "I felt compelled to act. I realised I had a passion for it and it became my priority.

"I started writing project ideas and emailing them around and people started to listen and emailing back to say, 'they're really good ideas'.

"But if knife crime was really their priority you'd expect a little bit more response - they just humoured me."

Jemma heard the concerns of many of Harrow's young people in the course of running her own live music business called The Mix Inc.

As a result she has written a jigsaw of proposals to reform the approach adopted by the statutory agencies which deal with teenagers.

"The way we speak to young people needs to change," she said. "But nobody goes out and asks young people what they need.

"The organisations and the financial funding are there, but despite the government spending on knife crime the statistics haven't decreased.

"I have spoken to professionals at the council and they admit it's just about meeting the criteria and ticking boxes."

Within the next month Jemma hopes to launch a teenagers' website, under The Mix Inc brand, where boys and girls can speak their mind, and plans to hit Harrow's streets with a video camera to document the views of youngsters.

She said: "I'm not a politician by any sense but somebody has to stand up and say: 'Something has gone wrong.'"